Another OH DMA Case Decided in Favor of Landowners
For some time now MDN has been following court challenges to Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act (DMA). The DMA is really two pieces of legislation: One which went into effect in 1989, the other which sought to clarify the 1989 law that went into effect in 2006 (see Video: OH Lawyers Explain Dormant Minerals Act & Impact on Utica). The Ohio Supreme Court has heard a case on the DMA but has still not ruled. However, other cases on the periphery of the DMA have been decided (see OH 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision on Dormant Minerals Act). Another such case, Wendt v. Dickerson, was decided a few weeks ago–a case which found in favor of landowners who want to reclaim mineral rights in certain circumstances…
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The mother’s milk of academe is grant money–and West Virginia University is happy to announce a new grant related to the Marcellus Shale. The U.S. Dept. of Energy is forking over $11 million to WVU and Ohio State University for a five-year project to study “baseline measurements, subsurface development and environmental monitoring” in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. The money will be used for research and to establish a first-of-its-kind Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory–a field site and dedicated research laboratory to be located at the Morgantown (WV) Industrial Park…
Yesterday’s election was, by all accounts, historic. It was a complete and utter repudiation of Barack H. Obama and his aggressive socialist policies–there’s no denying that. Republicans picked up governorships in most states where they ran. The one cloud was, unfortunately, Pennsylvania where California environmentalist wacko Tom Steyer’s $10 million+ purchased the governorship for the hapless Democrat Tom Wolf. One bright spot in PA (we challenge you to find this news in your local newspaper today) is that Republicans picked up MORE seats in both the PA House and Senate. Which means unless Republicans cave, there will be no severance tax to shut down Marcellus drilling in the Keystone State–at least for the next few years. Whew. In New York, Republicans (beyond all belief) held on and improved their majority in the Senate. The NY Senate is the only firewall against legislative action to permanently stop fracking in the Empire State. Whew. And what’s this, New England moves Republican???…